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Senate probe to focus on Duterte's drug war - Malaya Business Insight Senate probe to focus on Duterte's drug war - Malaya Business Insight

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Barbers suggests joint Senate-House hearings

SENATE minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III yesterday said allegations related to former President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war would be the focus of the investigation to be conducted by the blue ribbon sub-committee, which he will head.

In a press conference, Pimentel said accusations against the former president and other personalities not directly related to the war on drugs will be sidelined due to lack of material time to discuss all issues.

He explained that when Congress resumes regular sessions on November 4, senators will be busy with the scheduled plenary debates on the proposed 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), or the national budget.

"Kunwari, hindi naman drug-related ang killing sa PCSO executive, hands off na kami. Sa war on drugs lang tayo mag-fo-focus (For example, the killing of former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office board secretary Wesley Barayuga is not drug-related, so we will keep our hands off that case. We will just focus on the war on drugs)," he said.

Pimentel also said the Senate probe would start on a "blank slate" and not rely on the testimonies given by resource persons during the hearings of the quad committee of the House of Representatives.

Pimentel made the statement as Surigao del Sur Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, overall chairperson of the quad committee, suggested the conduct of a joint Senate and House investigation into the drug war killings.

JOINT PROBE

Barbers said the quad panel is willing to hold joint hearings with senators, comparing it to a joint session of Congress held annually for the President's State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) and the bicameral meetings to reconcile differing provisions between the versions of bills approved by both houses.

"If the Senate has one, and the House has one, e bakit hindi na lang natin pag-isahin (why not hold it jointly), like the bicameral conference committee. I think mas malawak, mas komprehensibo (the result will be bigger in scope and more comprehensive)," Barbers said told a press conference.

Barbers said lawmakers have to prioritize the conduct of the investigation even if there is only one regular session left in the 19th Congress before the official campaign period for the 2025 midterm elections begins.

He said congressmen and senators have to set aside their personal political plans for 2025 and fulfill their mandate as legislators, including their duty to investigate in aid of legislation.

DUTERTE

Duterte will not attend today's hearing of the quad committee, according to his lawyer Martin Delgra III.

Delgra, in a letter to the joint panel, said his client has just returned to Davao City from Manila last October 17.

"Unfortunately, despite his keen intention to attend, my client respectfully manifests that he cannot attend the public hearing on October 22, 2024. Considering his advanced age and the several engagements he had to attend, he is currently not feeling well and is in need of much rest. Hence, my client respectfully requests to defer his appearance before the honorable committee schedule tomorrow," the letter, dated October 21, stated,

Delgra said his client is willing to attend the hearing after All Saints Day, November 1. "Rest assured of my client's willingness to appear before the House of Representatives on some other available date, preferably after November 1, 2024," he said.

Earlier yesterday, the PNP said it has already delivered the invitation of the House panel to Duterte.

In a press briefing at Camp Crame, PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo however declined to say when the invitation was delivered and who received it.

"What I can confirm is that the invitation to our former President was already received," she said, adding, "I still have to confirm when it was received. What I have is the picture it was received. It's receipt is confirmed but I am sorry I cannot share the picture."

Retired police colonel Royina Garma, who was also a former general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, has alleged that Duterte and other ranking officials of his administration sanctioned the replication of the Davao City model of supposed extrajudicial killings on a national scale.

Garma has claimed that the model involved cash rewards for every person killed in the war against illegal drugs. She said the system was allegedly carried out by resigned National Police Commission (Napolcom) commissioner Edilberto Leonardo,

Garma said the "operational expenses and rewards" were processed through the bank accounts of Peter Parungo, a former PNP detainee who was reportedly among those tasked to collect and verify information about people allegedly involved in the trade of illegal drugs.

She presented a matrix during the House quad committee hearing suggesting that former PNP chiefs were aware of the covert operation.

The quad committee has invited the former president to attend the continuation under his administration's war on drugs even after the former Chief Executive has already snubbed previous invitations.

The joint panel's chairmen have repeatedly said that it is up to the former president if he will attend the congressional inquiry or not since the House cannot require him to attend out of parliamentary courtesy extended to a former president like him.

BLANK SLATE

Pimentel said the panel would scrutinize and prioritize resource persons to be invited during the hearing, saying that not everyone invited during committee hearings are able to testify despite their attendance due to time constraints.

"Tatanungin ko kung sino ang gusto nilang resource persons. In coordination with the mother committee, we will make a realistic list. Huwag namang sobrang dami ng iimbitahin kasi imposibleng makapagsalita sila (I will ask my colleagues who they want to invite as resource persons. In coordination with the mother committee, we will make the realistic list. We will invite enough number of resource persons since not all of them will be given the chance to talk)," he said.

He said Duterte will only be invited when his name is mentioned during the hearing since inviting him at the start of the hearing will be disorderly.

He added, though, that the former president can voluntarily attend the hearing but only "at the proper time."

"But kung willing siya pumunta, we can invite him sa second hearing. Tapusin natin sa first hearing ang lahat ng alegasyon para sa second hearing sagutin na (But if he [Duterte] is willing to attend, we can invite him in the second hearing. We will just hear and finish with all the allegations during the first hearing so all rebuttals can be heard during the second hearing)," Pimentel said.

Pimentel said the investigation will cover the start of the Duterte administration on July 2016 up to the end of its term on June 2022.

Pimentel said the Senate hearing will start with a blank slate.

"Ayoko kasi ng judicial notice na 'yung records ng House ay automatically mapupunta sa Senate. Hindi eh. Ang Senate parang blank slate kami. Kuwento muna, narinig na natin kay Garma. It should be Garma, Leonardo, and kung 'yung tatlong pinatay na Chinese drug lords ay posibleng related sa war on drugs, 'yung jail warden ng Davao Penal Colony, doon muna tayo mag start

(I don't want to send a judicial notice for the records of the House to be automatically transmitted to the Senate. That should not be the case. The Senate will start with a blank slate. Let's hear the stories first. We have heard it from Garma, then it should start with her, then Leonardo. If the three killed Chinese drug lords is connected with the war on drugs, then we will invite the Davao Penal Colony warden. Let us start from there)," he said.

Pimentel reiterated that the blue ribbon committee was tasked to conduct a motu proprio investigation into the drug war since it is the only committee allowed to conduct such probes while Congress is on recess under the Rules of the Senate.

Sen. Christopher Go has filed Senate Resolution No. 1217 directing the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, which is chaired by Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation on Duterte's war on drugs.

Both Go and Dela Rosa have been linked to the killings related to the Duterte administration's drug war.

Senate President Francis Escudero has earlier said that the probe cannot be led by Dela Rosa to preclude allegations of conflict of interest. -- With Victor Reyes

Author

analysis of article text

prohibitionist	prohibition_agency	drugwar_propaganda	legalization	drug_reformer
reform_referenda	cannabis	stimulant	narcotic	hallucinogen

incarceration/prison mentioned? yes .

propaganda analysis

EXP - explicit prohibition propaganda (explicit_propaganda)	GRP - hated group (propaganda_theme1)	MAD - madness, violence, illness (propaganda_theme2)
SOC - survival of society (propaganda_theme3)	USE - gateway, use is abuse (propaganda_theme4)	KID - children (propaganda_theme5)
WAR - demonize, war, epidemic (propaganda_theme6)	TOT - total prohibition (propaganda_theme7)	DIS - dissent opposed (propaganda_theme8)

concept		evidence	hits	links
	drug of abuse implied / mentioned drug related [news] [concept]	illegal drugs
	propaganda drugwar propaganda [news] [concept]	explicit propaganda propaganda theme1 propaganda theme2 propaganda theme6		•Why Are Americans So Easy to Manipulate? (Bruce E Levine, 2012) •Classic Modern Drug Propaganda •Themes in Chemical Prohibition •Drug War Propaganda (kindle edition)
	explicit prohibition propaganda explicit propaganda 70% [news] [concept]	"spokesperson" "campaign"	2	•SourceWatch: War on Drugs •dare.procon.org •Write What You're Told •Anti-Drug PSAs From the 80s and 90s •Lippmann, Walter; Public Opinion (1921) •Bernays, Edward; Propaganda (1928)
	hated group propaganda theme1 [news] [concept]	"minority" "drug lords"	3	•Hated Groups (propaganda theme 1) •drugwarfacts.org/druguse.htm •drugwarfacts.org/racepris.htm •America's Racist Drug laws •narcoterror.org/ •Labeling theory •Transfer (propaganda)
	madness, violence, illness propaganda theme2 [news] [concept]	"Dangerous Drugs" "Dangerous"	3	•Madness Crime Violence Illness (propaganda theme 2) •drugwarfacts.org/crime.htm •drugwarfacts.org/causes.htm •Distortion 18: Cannabis and Mental Illness •No, marijuana use doesn't lower your IQ (10/2014)
	demonize, war, epidemic propaganda theme6 90% [news] [concept]	"drug war" "war on drugs"	13	•Demonize, War (propaganda theme 6) •List of Wars on Concepts •Perpetual war •The Failed War on Drugs (2012)
	drug of abuse illegal drugs [news] [concept]	various illegal drugs
	drugs 95% [news] [concept]	various drugs
	oft-mentioned government prohibitionist govt prohib other [news] [concept]	"Duterte" "Rodrigo Duterte"	12	•A Drug War Carol, page 18
	various drugs 95% [news] [concept]	"drug" "drugs" "drug-related"	30
	various illegal drugs [news] [concept]	"drug-related" "illegal drugs" "drug lords" "war on drugs" "drug war"	19	•mapinc.org •drugwarfacts.org •DEA's Drugs of Abuse booklet •drugwarfacts.org/drugtest.htm
	incarceration [news] [concept]	"jail"	1	•Prison Hell in America (Stephen Lendman, Oct. 2011) •Understanding the U.S. Torture State •this is what a police state looks like •Torture and the United States •drugwarfacts.org/cms/Prisons and... •aclu.org/combating-mass-incarcer... •november.org •mapinc.org/prison.htm •hermes-press.com/prisons drugs.htm •US Official Prison Policy: Encourage Men's Rape (2014) •Profit Driven Prison Industrial Complex (2012) •The Top Five Special Interest Groups Lobbying To Keep Marijuana Illegal •Sing a Little Louder •Prison Rape Widely Ignored by Authorities •thedailysheeple.com/prisons-are-... •Push Back Against Drug War Profiteering with Jury Nullification
	aggrandizing government aggrandizement [news] [concept]	"official" "officials"	2	•Statism: the Most Dangerous Religion (2014 video) •What is Statism? •Conservapedia: Statism •Wikipedia: Statolatry •lewrockwell.com/2014/07/thomas-d... •Bought Priesthood •Worship of the U. S. Government (2011) •Bureaucratic Thrust •Tyranny of Experts •The Threat of Authority (2012) •The Media As Enablers of Government Lies •The Statist Mindset (Jacob Hornberger, 2011) •Thinking Critically about Experts and Authority •'Scientific' evidence for FDA-approved drugs isn't so scientific, it turns out (2014) •The Intellectual Gravy Train (2015)

st:0.01 fo:0 s:0 d:0 c:0 db:0.156 a:0.57 m:0.23 t:1.15 (f)

text of article used for CRITICAL ANALYSIS, under FAIR USE provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 107, et al.